Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

A nurse helps an injured bomb victim sitting at the back of a pickup truck at the Asokoro General Hospital in Abuja, April 14, 2014. A morning rush-hour bomb killed at least 35 people at a Nigerian bus station near the capital on Monday, raising concerns about the spread of an Islamist insurgency after the first such attack on Abuja for two years. Suspicion fell on Boko Haram, though there was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Islamist group mainly active in the northeast. Five hours after the blast, officials had given no death toll. Reuters journalists counted at least 35 bodies. (Photo by Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters)

Mariam Emad from Parkour Egypt “PKE” practices her parkour skills around buildings on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt on July 20, 2018. A group of Egyptian women gather at an abandoned park in a Cairo suburb once a week, climbing walls and jumping around in the strenuous physical discipline known as Parkour, while also challenging the country's conservative social norms. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

Everyone wants to get something for nothing - whether it's a lucky upgrade that means you can turn left when you get on a plane instead or heading off into the economy seats, or even getting a few extra features thrown in for free when you buy a new car.

As some of the sharpest businesses around, no-one understands this quite as well as casinos and that's why they all have a system that they call comps. It's short for "complimentary offers" and these are special treats specially designed to reward you for your loyalty to the casino in question. They're basically bonuses.

Turbines of the new Burbo Bank off shore wind farm lay in the wake of a maintenance boat in the mouth of the River Mersey on May 12, 2008 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

An aerial view shows boats sailing in the marshes of Chibayish in Iraq's southern Dhi Qar province on February 8, 2025. (Photo by Asaad Niazi/AFP Photo)

This photo taken on January 30, 2020 shows officials in protective suits checking on an elderly man wearing a facemask who collapsed and died on a street near a hospital in Wuhan. AFP journalists saw the body on January 30, not long before an emergency vehicle arrived carrying police and medical staff in full-body protective suits. The World Health Organization declared a global emergency over the new coronavirus, as China reported on January 31 the death toll had climbed to 213 with nearly 10,000 infections. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)

An Afghan policeman stands guard as smoke and flames rise from the site of a huge blast struck near the entrance of Kabul's international airport, in Kabul on August 10, 2015. A huge blast struck near the entrance of Kabul's international airport on August 10 during the peak lunchtime period, officials said, warning that heavy casualties were expected. “The explosion occurred at the first check point of Kabul airport”, said deputy Kabul police chief Sayed Gul Agha Rouhani. (Photo by Shah Marai/AFP Photo)